Those Who Rent Mailboxes May Soon See Higher Rates

OTHER NEWS TO NOTE - THE NATION

April 4, 1997

WASHINGTON — The cost of renting a mailbox at rural post offices would go from $8 to $12 a year under a series of rate increases approved by the Postal Rate Commission. The independent panel also would increase the annual price of large mailboxes, typically used by businesses, in eight major cities from $310 to $372 and agreed to formally end special delivery, a mail service dating from 1885 that has been made obsolete by the U.S. Postal Service's overnight Priority Mail. The 32-cent price of a first-class stamp was not changed by the panel, and it rejected a Postal Service plan to charge 22 cents for postal cards with postage already imprinted, leaving the price at 20 cents. The new rates need only a formal vote by the Postal Service Board of Governors to be imposed.